Not Like I Do
by rubeetuesday
Summary: WARNING POTENTIAL MOCKINGJAY SPOILERS! So this takes place at the end of Mockingjay but before the epilogue. What happens if Gale comes back to Twelve and Katniss picks him instead? Read my story, prologue and then songfic to Brantley Gilbert's, "You Don't Know Her Like I Do." Potentially a 3 Part if I do an Epilogue. Please Read and Review... Oh and it's from Peeta's POV :
1. Prologue

_A/N: So this is a songfic of "You Don't Know Her Like I Do" By: Brantley Gilbert. So there is a little prologue on this chapter and the actual songfic will be on the next one. It's from Peeta's POV, which I've never done before, so bear with me Anyway, I hope you like it, please read and review whether the reviews are positive or negative, that would be awesome thanks a bunch! Sorry for typos, copyright credit goes to Suzanne Collins._

_~Rubeetuesday~_

"Knock, Knock." "Oh, Hey Katniss, Come on in."

Why is Katniss here? I haven't seen her since we planted her primroses when I got back to 12. That's been like 2 months.

"Peeta, we need to talk." "Okay then, sit down."

Katniss takes a seat on the couch while I sit in the plush arm chair across from her. I lean over, resting my elbows on my knees, "So what's up?"

"Gale's back, Peeta. He's back and he asked me to forgive him, see if we can start over."

Oh, great! That's just what I need, Gale coming back and making everything all complicated for me and Katniss again. But I thought Katniss blamed him for Prim's death, so maybe this won't really be that big of a deal at all.

"So what did you say?" I asked Katniss, afraid of the answer, afraid that just maybe she won't hate Gale anymore.

"Well, that was about a month ago and I did give him another chance. Peeta, Coin killed Prim, not Gale, he didn't even know they were going to use the bombs. So we've been talking and we're really close now, and that's why I'm here, Peeta. Gale and I are going to get married, and he's gotten President Paylor to agree to let me leave District 12 after the wedding. So I guess why I'm really here, Peeta, is to say goodbye."

"Oh, Wow… um, I don't know what to say Katniss, I really don't."

"Peeta, we've been through so much together, we've been through things that no one should have had to go through. You've always tried to be there for me and I want to say thank you. Thank you, and I'm sorry. You always talked about how you loved me, and I'm sorry I couldn't love you back. To be honest, I think I did at one point, during the Quell, when you died, it was horrible. But we're totally different people now. I've changed so much since Prim died, and I'm still not right. You don't deserve me, you have your hijacking problems and I have my depression, so really you need someone who can be good to you and help you, and I'm just not that person. I'm sorry, Peeta, I really truly am…"

"Katniss, I- I- I can't marry anyone else, you know that. No matter how messed up I am, or you say you are, we belong together, anyone can see that. You're the only one who can help me through my hijackings; you're the only one I love. Katniss, I need you."

"Peeta, no, I'm sorry our history is too brutal, we both need a fresh start. Goodbye, Peeta."

And with that final statement she was gone, as quick and silent as always she stood up and ran from the house.

Wow… so that's it, I lost. I survived two Hunger Games for her, I fought a rebellion for her, lost my memory, gave her space to recover like she asked, and I lost. I lost Katniss, my Katniss, the only ray of sunshine in my whole world. And I lost her… to Gale, the one person she swore she couldn't stand anymore. He won, he won Katniss. Congratulations, Gale, you saved Katniss and killed me.


	2. The SongFic

_A/N: So here is the fanfic, and I have to say, it is really weird writing from Peeta's POV. Please read and review; and I might even do an epilogue, because I'm kind of getting into the story… anyway without further ado, the songfic…._

_Sorry for Typos, Copyright stuff goes to Brantley Gilbert for the Song, and the Hunger Games belong to Suzanne Collins, she's a genius… _

_~Rubeetuesday~_

_Hey ole Friend, thanks for callin'  
It's good to know somebody cares  
Yeah she's gone, but I don't feel like talkin'_

I woke to the sound of the phone blaring. Who on earth is calling at six-thirty in the morning I wondered? I have no family, no Katniss, no real friends, who wants to talk to me, crazy, lonely, hijacked Peeta? I stand up and drag myself downstairs to answer the phone…

"Hello?"

"Hi, Peeta, it's Annie, Annie Cresta, well, Odair."

"Oh, Hey Annie, um what's up?"

"Well, I heard the news, Peeta, about Katniss, and I just wanted to make sure you're ok? Do you need anything? Maybe just to talk or something?"

"Um, no, Annie, no, but thank you anyway. I really don't see how talking will make Katniss change her mind."

"Ok, well if you change your mind just give me a call, Okay?"

"Okay, I will, thanks, Annie."

Well, that was weird. How did Annie hear about Katniss and Gale in District 13, did news really travel that fast? I wonder what they think about their star-crossed lovers now.

_It might be just too much to bear  
To hear somebody say it stops hurting  
Or to hear somebody say she ain't worth it  
_

I figure that going to the newly rebuilt bakery will do me some good, so I throw on a jacket and head into town. "Peeta!"

Oh, no, I cannot deal with you right now. "Yes, Haymitch?"

"I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were doing alright, kid. Katniss came by my place yesterday and I got to thinking that maybe you wanted someone to talk to."

"As nice as that is, Haymitch, I really don't want to talk to anyone. Katniss is gone and my life is over, is there anything else we need to discuss."

"Peeta, don't talk like that. You're young; you're a hero; you'll move on like she did and meet a beautiful, lucky, young lady and life will be all good. Katniss isn't worth ruining your life over. I know you loved her, Peeta, but I think it's time to move on."

_You don't know her like I do  
You'll never understand  
You don't know what we've been through  
That girl's my best friend  
And there's no way you're gonna help me  
She's the only one who can  
No, you don't know how much I've got to lose  
You don't know her like I do_

"NO, Haymitch, NO! You don't know what has happened to us, you don't know what it's like to live through two Hunger Games, both times ready to die for someone, both times being lucky enough to make it out together, think you get a shot at a life together and have it ripped all away. I can't live without Katniss, she's the only one who can understand me, the only one who can help me through the hijackings, you can't help me, Haymitch, no one else can. No one else understands me like she does. If she marries Gale and leaves me forever, I'll be ruined. She's my whole life, I can't stand losing her."

__

I can't forget, I'm drowning in these memories  
It fills my soul with all the little things

I can feel it before it happens, the ache in the back of my head, and the world around me going blurry. All this talk of Katniss leaving me must have triggered it, and here I am in the middle of the start a terrible flashback, with no one here to comfort me. I collapse to the ground in a ball. I see Haymitch's look of horror before I black out to the pain around me and enter into a new, worse type of pain.

I wake up and I'm on the beach with Katniss during the Quarter Quell. I'm trying to explain to her that she needs to go home to her family. I pull out the locket with pictures of her mother, Prim and Gale. "Katniss, you have to go home to your family. You have to live for them, okay?" Katniss sits up and yanks the locket from my hand. "Give me that, Peeta; it's my locket with my family in it. And you're right, I'm not going to die here, I'm going to go home and marry Gale. I don't need you, and I don't love you. We all know it was just a stupid act to stay alive during the games, just like now."

And before I can see it coming Katniss pulls out a knife a plunges it into my heart. Laughing all the while. "Aww, poor little love-sick Peeta, don't worry you're heart won't hurt much longer anymore. Sleep tight, Peeta." Before I can say a word I black out and open my eyes to the blue sky above me, and Katniss' worried face.

_And I can't cope, it's like a death inside the family  
It's like she stole my way to breathe  
Don't try to tell me it stops hurting  
Don't try to tell me she ain't worth it  
_

"Peeta, Peeta, are you okay? Hey, it's okay you're going to be alright." She whispers to me as she helps me walk back to my house and eases me down on the couch. "Don't move, Peeta, I'm going to get you something to eat and drink. Stay right there."

What is going on? Why is Katniss here? Just to prolong the pain it seems like. Every time she comes to me I come back to life, but the minute she's gone I seem to die again. How am I going to live without her? I'll just be an empty shell wandering around town going into crazy fits I guess. What a life.

She comes back after a couple minutes with a cup of tea and a piece of warm bread. "Eat this up, Peeta; you need to rebuild your strength after that attack." I comply though grudgingly, still trying figure out if what I saw was real or not. But I'm too scared to ask Katniss after everything that's gone on. I guess it doesn't matter anyway, whether it's true or not Katniss still chose Gale, not me.

"Katniss, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean; I'm taking care of you!"

"But, why? You don't care about me, you chose Gale, remember?"

"I know, Peeta, but I do still care about you it's just the memories are too painful. So when Haymitch came to get me after you collapsed I knew you must really be in trouble. I don't hate you, Peeta; we're just not supposed to be together."

"That's your opinion…"

"Peeta, don't do this to me. I made my decision. Gale and I are getting married in a couple days and that is just how it's going to be."

"Okay, I'm sorry Katniss. Thank you, I guess I'm just going to go up to bed now."

When I turned around she was gone, I'll never understand how she walks so silently. She is amazing in so many ways. I just wish she could see that she and I are better than she and Gale.

_You don't know her like I do  
You'll never understand  
You don't know what we've been through  
That girl's my best friend  
And there's no way you're gonna help me  
She's the only one who can  
No, you don't know how much I've got to lose  
You don't know her like I do_

Just as I'm about to fall asleep I hear someone pounding on the door. Well, really they're just knocking, but my head is killing me so they might as well be pounding.

"Hello? Oh, hey Gale, what's up?" That's what I said, but I was really thinking, go away you stupid hunter, stupid love stealer, life stealer.

"Peeta, is Katniss here?"

"She was, but she's gone now."

"Okay, we need to talk?"

"Um, alright come in, I guess?" Because my day hasn't been bad enough has it, Gale, you have to prance in here with your smug little face and just rub it in that you have Katniss. In all reality I'm sure that Gale isn't here for that, but to me his presence just oozes arrogance.

I sit down on the arm chair again but Gale stays standing, pompous bow boy.

"I was just thinking, Peeta, that since Katniss and I are getting married you and I should get a few things straight."

"Seriously, Gale, you think that I am going to try to take Katniss from you once you're married, do you really think that low of me?"

"No, I just figured that we should just agree to try to be civil for Katniss since we are going to be neighbors and all."

"But I thought you were leaving 12."

"No, Katniss thinks that she needs to take care of you until your hijackings aren't as bad."

"What! Really? So I still have a chance." I realize all too late the words that came out of my mouth. I look up at Gale and he looks absolutely furious. "Gale, you don't know Katniss like I do. We've been to heck and back to try to save this country and then try to put ourselves back together again. I know that you can't see it, or just don't want to, but Katniss and I belong together. You have to realize this. You'll marry Katniss, but she'll never be truly happy because the only reason she left me was because she thought I didn't need the stress of her depression. You don't know the real Katniss, Gale, I do, and I need her."

I barely get the words out before Gale is up in my face. "Listen up bread boy, I don't know who you think you are, or why you think you get Katniss, but she is MINE so stay away." Gale is up and gone before I even get to take another breath.__

You don't know her like I do  
You'll never understand  
You don't know what we've been through  
That girl's my best friend  
There's no way you're gonna help me  
She's the only one who can  
No, you don't know how much I've got to lose  
You don't know her like I do

Gale doesn't understand. I know Katniss, I love Katniss, and I will have Katniss. I'll make her see that she is not a burden to me, but in fact a comfort. She is perfect and I love her to death. You don't know her Gale and anyone who thinks that I can live without her is just plain wrong. I have three days before the wedding, so I better get to work. No one knows her like I do.

_A/N: Again, thank you for reading… so I've sort of gotten carried away with this story and realized I couldn't end it where the song ended. So that means another chapter! YAY! Anyway please leave your reviews because I'm not really sure if I'm that good at being in Peeta's head, Katniss is sooo much easier. Well, Adios until next time_

_~Rubeetuesday~_


	3. Three Days Til The Wedding

_A/N: Yay, new chapter! This might be the end or not, we'll see haha I love writing! Well please read and enjoy the drama. Leave comments too because I want to see what y'all think of the story… suggestions, opinions, critiques, all that jazz… well happy reading_

_~Rubeetuesday~_

"Peeta, are you home? Oh my gosh, Peeta! Are you all right, hey talk to me?"

"Huh, what's going on…? Katniss what are you doing here?"

I look around me; I'm lying on the kitchen floor, broken glass everywhere and a long, bloody cut on my hand. What did happen? Katniss is still looking at me frantically, waiting for me to answer her question.

"Yeah, I guess I'm alright, but honestly I don't really remember what happened. It looks like I smashed a bowl though. I guess I had another flash back."

"Oh, Peeta, I'm so sorry, really I am. I should have been here to watch you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Really, Katniss, I'm okay. And besides I'm going to have to survive on my own. I don't think Gale's going to want you over here, especially after you get married."

"Heck with Gale, you're going to hurt yourself. Again."

Seriously, Katniss is offering to stay over here and take care of me?

"Well there's nothing much to do about it, Katniss, that's just how I am now."

"No! I'm gonna stay here and take care of you, is that ok?"

"Um, yeah sure."

Is that ok? That's fantastic! Me and Katniss for the short time we have left together… maybe I can get her to realize that she is the one that can help me, only her. The memories will still be there, it's not triggered by me. We're broken but together we are whole, I just wish I could tell her that.

The day goes by smoothly I bake, Katniss watches. I try to get her to go hunting or something but she insists on staying with me, and honestly I don't mind at all.

"Katniss, do you want to help me make a cake?"

"Um, I guess, you know I can't bake, Peeta."

"It's ok, I'll teach you."

We pour in the eggs, sugar, butter, baking soda, and then I ask Katniss to hand me the flour. "I can put it in, Peeta."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, how hard could it be?"

Apparently, it's very hard. Katniss takes the flour and rips open the bag the flour comes up in a puff and hits her in the face. She sneezes and drops the bag… great, Katniss, great.

"WHAT! NO STUPID FLOUR!" Katniss screams as the bag has exploded all over my kitchen, literally there is white everywhere!

I can't help myself, I burst out laughing. I know I shouldn't as I see Katniss getting angrier but she looks so funny coated in the white dust. So funny and so adorable.

"Really, Peeta, really, you think this is funny?"She scowls at me because I'm now doubled over against the counter.

"I'm sorry, Katniss, I am it's just…." I can't finish a sentence it is so funny, angry Katniss covered in flour.

"Fine, Peeta, fine."And she picks up the whole cake batter, which is a little runny and sticky without the flour, and dumps it on my head.

I just stand there shocked and then she smiles, and then she laughs. I missed hearing Katniss laugh, seeing her smile, she is so beautiful, and I miss her so much. After what seems like forever we finally stop laughing and just stare at each other and the disaster we've made.

"Okay, let's clean this up." Katniss finally says breaking the silence.

We scrub the kitchen and clean up the bowls until finally we decide we have to clean ourselves up. Katniss says she's going to go to her house to take a shower and we'll be back. So I decide to do the same.

But then it happened. I had just reached the foot of the stairs when I felt the aching in my head. The pull of tracker jacker venom, trying to pull me into a world of nightmares. Cruel, cold nightmares.

We're lying in the bed on the train, Katniss and I, on the Victory Tour. She's curled up in my arms and I'm lying awake, watching her sleep. She's so peaceful when she sleeps. But then she starts thrashing screaming out the names of those who died in the arena.

"Katniss, Katniss, it's ok, it's just a dream, wake up, please." After a few more minutes she opens her eyes, clinging to me.

"It was horrible, Gale, horrible, I killed, Rue and then there was a bomb…"

"Katniss, why did you call me Gale?"

"What? Peeta! What are you doing here! I told you I didn't love you and here you are in MY bed! Get out, Peeta; you know that I don't love you!"

And she pushes me out of the bed and I'm tumbling through space.

I land in the cave from the first arena. Katniss is there treating my leg. No, not treating, trying to make it worse. She is rubbing dirt and leaves in the wound trying to make it more infected.

"Go to sleep, Peeta."She whispers, "It will all be over soon." She takes out her bow and shoots me in the heart. The world goes black and I can feel myself curled up in a ball, in pain, torturous pain.

* * *

**Katniss' POV**

I step out of the shower and put on some fresh clothes. Thinking of Peeta. I try not to think about him, how much fun he is, how he didn't yell at me when I destroyed his kitchen. I was expecting it. That's why I was so mad. Gale would have yelled, screamed, asked me why I was so careless. But not Peeta, he is so calm, and gentle. But he scares me. He scares me because he could decide to kill me at any minute. He could go into a flashback and try to choke me again. Gale is scary, but Peeta is dangerous.

No, Peeta's not dangerous, he's broken. I'm broken, we're all broken. But Peeta most of all, he needs someone to watch him so that he doesn't hurt himself again. Poor Peeta, I wish seeing him didn't hurt so badly. He looks so much like Prim with his blonde hair and blue eyes, it hurts to bad, he reminds me of the arena, and I don't want to remember that.

I walk back to Peeta's house and open the door, but it's much too quiet. There is no steady thumping of Peeta walking on his leg, no quiet whistling as he works; there is no sound at all. Until I hear a small whimper.

Oh no, he's having a flash back or he's hurt himself, or something. I walk carefully into the living room and I see him. He's curled up next to the stares, moaning, and then he starts saying my name, Katniss, Katniss, he sounds so tortured.

I walk over to him carefully, I want to touch him, comfort him, but I'm scared. There's no one around to protect me if he tries to kill me. But I've fought all sorts of things, surely I can take Peeta.

I touch him on the shoulder, very gently. "Peeta, hey it's okay, I'm right here. It's Katniss, I'm here to take care of you Peeta. Don't worry whatever you're seeing isn't real. I'm here Peeta; I would never try to hurt you." I stoke his head and keep telling him it's okay, it seems to go on for hours, but is probably just a few minutes. Finally he opens his eyes and looks at me. "Katniss?" He asks, "Thank you, I'm glad that you stayed with me."

"It's no problem, Peeta, really. We're both so broken we need someone to look out for us."

"Yeah, that's what we do right? Look out for each other."

We sit there in silence for a while, both of us lying on the floor together. I rub Peeta's back until he finally sits up.

"Are you okay, Peeta?"

"Yeah, I'm better; I'm going to go take a shower now, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be down here if you need me."

I watch him slowly walk upstairs and hear his door shut. He's so broken, I'm so broken, and that's why we can't be together. If we are both broken we'll weigh each other down and neither of us will be better. We have to be separate to heal. That's why I had to choose Gale because he is whole and he can help me get better. Right? Two broken people can't fix each other. That's just how it is. That's right, isn't it?

_A/N: So I won't normally flip view points because I find that confusing but I just thought we could use a little look into Katniss taking care of Peeta because Peeta doesn't know what's going on during his flashbacks… so yeah, most of the rest will be from Peeta's POV unless I do a little bit of Gale's… ooh interesting, what do you think…. Anyway leave reviews, tell me you liked it, tell me it sucked, leave your opinions on how Peeta should win back Katniss, whatever you want to say… haha I just love feedback._

_Okay well I'll try to update soon! Until then happy waiting ;)_

_~Rubeetuesday~_


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